Hawaii rehires Abercrombie in House race

(AllPolitics, November 3) -- Democratic incumbent Rep. Neil Abercrombie decisively beat his Republican challenger, state Rep. Gene Ward, despite indications in the final weeks that the race was tightening.

Republicans were hoping to take advantage of Hawaii's economic troubles and changing demographics to unseat the four-term Democrat. The Asian financial crisis has put a damper on the islands' tourism industry this year.

Even before the crisis, Abercrombie was viewed as vulnerable. His uncomfortably close win in 1996 raised some eyebrows and alerted potential challengers that the incumbent could be beaten.

Since September 1997 Ward, a former Hawaii House of Representatives minority leader who is serving his fourth term in the state legislature, was making the rounds in Washington, D.C., telling Republican operatives that he was in the race.

Ward's only challenger for the Republican nomination, Quentin Kuhio Kawananakoa, who was considered the party's front-runner, had to drop out of the primary race for health reasons.

Hawaii's 1st congressional district would not have been entirely alien territory for the GOP. A Republican represented the region for two terms before Abercrombie's first victory.